The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs with the support of the Directorate for relations with National Parliaments organises an Interparliamentary Committee meeting (ICM) on "Fundamental rights aspects of Roma inclusion and fighting anti-Gypsyism". The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 18 October 2018, from 14.30 to 18.00, in the European Parliament premises in Brussels.

The inter-parliamentary committee meeting aims to promote an exchange of views between European and national Parliamentarians on barriers to Roma inclusion and possibilities to overcome them. The meeting envisages the participation of the Council of Europe, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR), as well as presentations from NGOs, bringing the global and the non-institutional perspective into the discussions.

15-05-2018 - 09:00The Implementation of the Data Protection package - At the eve of its application

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs is co-organising with the Legislative Dialogue Unit of the Directorate for National Parliaments an Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on the Implementation of the Data Protection package at the eve of the entry into force on Tuesday, 15 May 2018, from 9h00 to 12h30 and 14h00 to 17h30, at the European Parliament in Brussels.

With this one-day event, Members of the National Parliaments of the EU Member States will have a unique opportunity to exchange views and best practices with Members of the EP, the representatives of the EU institutions, bodies, law enforcement authorities, intergovernmental organizations, SMEs and the IT specialists on a topic which combines competences at all levels of governance in the EU.

The EU General Data Protection package is the most important change in data privacy regulation in 20 years. The new proposals are designed to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens' data privacy and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data privacy. The aim of the GDP package is to protect all EU citizens from privacy and data breaches in an increasingly data-driven world.

27-02-2018 - 14:30The UN Global Compacts on refugees and migrants and the role of Parliaments

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament in association with the Committee of Foreign Affairs organise an inter-parliamentary meeting with Members of National Parliaments under the title "The UN Global Compacts on refugees and migrants and the role of Parliaments”. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 27 February 2018, from 14h30 to 18h30, at the European Parliament premises in Brussels.

The inter-parliamentary committee meeting aims at bringing together Members of the National parliaments and the European Parliament to discuss about the content of the UN Global Compacts. Furthermore, the inter-parliamentary committee intends to strengthen the parliamentary dimension of the EU position and to support the work of the EEAS and of the Member States in the final phase of the process leading to the adoption of the Compacts. The outcome of the conference will also contribute to develop an EP perspective on the negotiations, which will materialize in a plenary resolution to be adopted in March.The UN agencies, the co-facilitators, the EEAS, the European Commission, the Council Presidency and different stakeholders from the civil society will participate in the discussions.

24-01-2018 - 09:00The European Agenda on Migration-What about Legal Avenues and Integration?

At the dawn of 2018, it is time to take stock of the EU response to the current migration challenge as it was initially framed in the 2015 European Commission's European Agenda on Migration. Has it been as comprehensive as claimed by the Agenda and as called upon by the European Parliament? What happened to the so-called "legal avenues"? Where does the "new policy on legal migration" stand? Are EU measures better supporting now integration within the Member States?

Based on "four pillars to manage migration better", the Agenda included proposals for fighting irregular migration, reinforcing common border management, strengthening the common asylum policy and launching a new policy on legal migration. In its resolution of 12 April 2016 on "The Situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU policy on migration", the European Parliament also took a comprehensive stance - in its reaction to "the crisis", the EU should not forget the long, the need to create legal avenues to migration, and to facilitate integration in order to manage human mobility in a sustainable way. With this one-day event, Parliamentarians at both national and European level will have a unique opportunity to exchange with representatives of EU institutions, bodies and agencies, intergovernmental organisations, local governments, academics and think tanks on a topic which combines competences at all levels of governance in the EU.

22-06-2017 - 09:00Establishment of an EU Mechanism on Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights

On 25 October 2016 the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Commission to submit a proposal for the establishment of an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights. This new mechanism should ensure that all EU Member States respect the values enshrined in the EU treaties and set clear, evidence-based and non-political criteria for assessing their records on these areas.

The European Union Pact on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights proposed by the Parliament includes the organisation of an annual interparliamentary debate as a key element for the monitoring of the situation in Member States. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and home Affairs will invite Members of National Parliaments to an Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on "the Establishment of an EU Mechanism on Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights".

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday 22 June 2017, from 9h00 to 12h30 in the European Parliament in Brussels.

28-02-2017 - 09:00The Third Reform of the Common European Asylum System - Up for the Challenge

An ‘Interparliamentary Committee Meeting’ will take place on 28 February 2017, bearing on "The Third Reform of the Common European Asylum System - Up for the Challenge". The aim of this meeting is to provide a forum of useful exchange among Members of the European Parliament and national Parliaments as well as experts in view of the ongoing crucial reform of the Union acquis on asylum.

Relevant work has already started within the LIBE committee with key decisions planned to be taken during spring 2017. Several sessions and parallel workshops will focus on different issues such as fair distribution of asylum seekers, the concepts of safe country of origin and safe third country, administrative cooperation under Dublin and protection of children in migration. Commissioner Avramopoulos and Minister Abela from the Maltese Presidency of the Council will open the meeting along with the LIBE Chair Claude Moraes.

The new Europol Regulation will be applicable as from 1 May 2017. One of its innovative features is the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group which to ensure proper democratic scrutiny of Europol's activities by the European Parliament, together with national parliaments, in accordance with Article 88 of the Treaty.

This Interparliamentary Meeting will serve as a platform for debate between members of the European Parliament and national parliaments on the working and modalities of this new body, in the context of the current security situation in Europe and Europol's role therein.

The LIBE Committee will hold an inter-parliamentary meeting on "a holistic approach to migration" on 23 September 2015, in room JAN 4Q2. The hearing takes place in the context of LIBE work on the Strategic own-initiative report on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration (co-Rapporteurs: Ms Roberta Metsola, EPP, and Ms Kashetu Kyenge, S&D).

On 17 December 2014, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration. The Resolution instructed the competent Committee, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, to assess the various policies at stake in the area of migration, asylum and border control, develop a set of recommendations and to report to Plenary in the form of a strategic report before the end of 2015.

Following this, the LIBE Committee has begun working on a strategic own-initiative report on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic approach to migration (co-rapporteurs: Ms Roberta Metsola, EPP, and Ms Kashetu Kyenge, S&D). In the course of its work on this report, the Committee has heard from numerous experts in the area, focusing on 8 subject-matters: 1) Article 80 - Solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, including search and rescue obligations; 2) Tackling criminal smuggling, trafficking and labour exploitation of irregular migrants;3) Border management and visa-policy, including the role of Frontex and other relevant Agencies; 4) Developing safe and lawful routes for asylum seekers and refugees into the EU including the Union resettlement policy and corresponding integration policies; 5) The strategy on cooperation with third countries, in particular on regional protection programmes, resettlement, returns and to address the root causes of migration;6) Developing adequate legal economic migration channels;7) Analysis on how Home Affairs funds are spent in migration & development context, including emergency funds; 8) Effective implementation of the Common European Asylum System, including the role of EASO.

In the meanwhile, the European Commission has adopted, in May, its Communication “A European Agenda on Migration”, in which it announced the creation of hotspots, where relevant EU agencies would work on the ground with frontline Member States to swiftly identify, register and fingerprint incoming migrants. Hotspots are being set up in Italy and in Greece.

Against this background, the Inter-Parliamentary Committee Meeting will provide an opportunity for an in-depth discussion of the hotspots approach, together with the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Agencies and the national Parliaments of all Member States. It will furthermore allow Members of the LIBE Committee to have a meaningful exchange of views with Members of National Parliaments on migration, asylum and border policies, to see how they are being discussed and dealt with at the national level.

28-05-2015 - 00:00Conference on the Democratic oversight of Intelligence services in the European Union

LIBE

József Antall building (JAN) 2Q2, Brussels

Poster

The European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, the Belgian House of Representatives’ Committee responsible for monitoring the Standing Committee P and the Standing Committee I, the German Bundestag's Parliamentary Oversight Panel and the Italian Parliament’s Committee for the Security of the Republic (COPASIR) are jointly organising an interparliamentary committee meeting on Democratic oversight of intelligence services in the Eropean Union.

The meeting is a follow up to paragraph 133 of the European Parliament resolution of 12 March 2014 on the USA surveillance programme, surveillance bodies in various Member States and their impact on EU citizens' fundamental rights and on the transatlantic cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs (2013/2188 (INI)). It will bring together national and European actors to discuss about the challenges that democratic oversight bodies are facing in the digital age and how to overcome them. The meeting will serve to foster cooperation between national oversight bodies, allowing them to share best practices and to discuss common concerns.

The meeting takes place on Thursday, 28 May, from 9.00 to12.30 and 14.30 to 18.00, and on Friday, 29 May, from 9.00 to 12.00, at the EP in Brussels (Room JAN 2Q2).

Video of the hearing

23-02-2015 - 00:00Meeting with the National Parliaments on Smart Borders

LIBE

BRUSSELS/6Q2

Smart borders package

The Smart Borders Package: European challenges, national experiences, the way ahead" is the theme of an interparliamentary committee meeting organised by the EP Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) from 23-24 February in Brussels.